A/N: Hello Readers! I believe this is the chapter you've been waiting for... Dedicated to Fanfic Addict.
The monitors beeped rapidly. "Pressure's dropping! Laps! More laps!" Meredith reached for them, pressing them into Jo's body cavity as she felt around for the bleed. "Where the hell is it?"
"What was Jo doing, playing around with a gun?" Bailey asked.
"I don't know," she huffed. She hated guns, but she gritted her teeth. She should've taken Alex more seriously when he mentioned that Amber had a gun. "I'm pretty sure she didn't expect an earthquake."
Bailey shook her head, "It's maddening. You raise them, teach them. Give them all your time and energy... and then-" she stopped, speechless.
Meredith sighed too. Fate? Coincidence? The universe liked to mess around with everyone, didn't it? "Retractor, Brooks." She couldn't lose Jo too. Alex would kill her. Though maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.
But underneath her forefinger she felt a pulse. "I found it! I found the bleed! Three-oh micryl, Bokhee!" The needle was palmed over to her. "Brooks, more retraction here. Suction... I need suction." There... she could see it now, a small tear in the kidney.
"Let me in there, Grey, I'm gonna have to clamp the renal artery." Bailey said. They worked quietly for a moment, focused on their patient. "I never thought I'd have you as my student again," Bailey said. "But you came back. Your first patient was Mrs. O'Malley. I didn't think you could finish her surgery, but you did."
"I did," Meredith replied, remembering. "What's your point?"
"What's all this talk I hear about giving up?"
"What do you mean, giving up?"
"On being a mother."
She glared at her mentor. "It's really none of your business, Dr. Bailey."
"I believe it is," she replied. "You need someone to love, to care for. Someone that loves you. It makes you a better doctor, a better person."
"Are you saying I'm not?"
"I'm saying-"
"-You have no idea what I went through to get here! None!"
"And how much longer can you hold yourself together, Grey? How much longer can you run away from love?"
"As long as I have to," she snarled back as she threaded the stitch.
"You are maddening. Throwing yourself in front of a bus... for what? I thought I taught you better-"
"-Brooks, suction!" Meredith demanded. She shook her head. "So sue me! I've lost everything I ever cared for. My mother. George. Derek. My baby. Zola. I'm done. It's done."
"Clamp." Bailey positioned the clamp over the renal artery. "You're just gonna go back to Medusa again? You know, I wish George was here. He'd talk sense into you."
Meredith only harrumphed as she continued to stitch.
xxx
Carolyn held the dozing Zola in her arms. Now that things had begun to settle down, she wondered what she should do with the little girl. Surely Meredith would like to see her again. Maybe she could talk to the socialworkers in charge to give her a chance to say goodbye, or maybe another chance altogether.
"Zola?" Someone called. Carolyn looked up to see a dark-skinned professionally dressed woman coming down the hall. "Oh my goodness, what is she doing here?"
"She found me during the earthquake. I brought her here, to keep her safe."
"I see," the woman said. "I'm Janet-"
"-The socialworker- yes. I've heard about you."
"Heard about me?" she asked, surprised.
"My apologies," she said. "I'm Carolyn Shepherd, Meredith's mother-in-law. You remember Meredith Grey? She wanted to adopt Zola."
Janet's expression changed into something unreadable.
"What? What is it?" Carolyn asked. "Meredith had nothing to do with why Zola is here now."
"Zola is still under CFS custody, Mrs. Shepherd. I should take her now." She reached for the little girl.
A surge of protectiveness came over Carolyn and she squeezed Zola tighter. "Would you be able to tell me what's going on with her case? You haven't even set a court date yet, I find that rather odd-"
"Mrs. Shepherd, let's not make this any harder than it has to be," Janet said.
Carolyn raised her brow. Was that a threat?
Just then, Janet's phone rang. She gave Carolyn a pointed look and turned away to answer the phone. "Yes, that's me. Who is this? Dr. Blake... Actually, I'm here right now. Anna Forester? Yes, I'm familiar with her case. I see... I'll be right there." She hung up. Turning to Carolyn, she reached in her purse and pulled out her card. "It seems I'll be here for awhile. I trust you'll look after Zola for the time being?"
"Of course."
"Thank you. I'll come and find you later then... Mrs. Shepherd."
"Indeed," Carolyn nodded, hugging Zola closer. "We'll be in the daycare."
xxx
Penny paced, anxious for Janet's arrival. Her heart beat rapidly... she couldn't believe the past hour actually happened. Meredith's daughter was alive and here! She only needed to prove it.
"Are you Dr. Blake?"
"Janet?" Penny turned to see the socialworker come down the hallway.
"Yes. What's this about? It sounded so urgent on the phone," she asked, obviously concerned.
"Um, if you could just come this way, I'll explain everything." Penny said, leading her to the nearby conference room. Penny closed the door while Janet set her bag down on the table and turned to face her. "I understand you're in charge of Anna Forester's custody."
"Yes, I am. Has something happened to her? Is she all right?"
"She was in an accident and she's in surgery, but thanks to Dr. Grey and Dr. Webber, she will be just fine. But there's something else." Penny licked her lips, "I worked at Dillard when Anna was born. I was there. I remember her. It was... traumatic. Her mother was in critical condition, we could barely keep her alive. She had a head injury, a broken pelvis... rib fractures. We delivered Anna via C-section. She was such a fighter... it was a miracle she was unharmed." Penny swallowed. "Janet, Anna is not an orphan. Her mother... her real mother, is Meredith Grey."
Janet blinked, "I... don't understand."
"Anna has a birthmark on her wrist, about the size of a quarter."
"Yes."
"I remember that birthmark from when she was born. I put her wristband on after she was delivered. Today... when Anna came in, she had that exact birthmark. I double checked her records. Anna's birthday and birthplace match the same day that Dr. Grey had her accident and was taken to Dillard."
"You're saying Meredith is Anna's mother?" Janet asked.
"Yes. I'm nearly 100 percent sure. But I think we should do a DNA test to confirm everything. I need your permission to take a swab of Anna's DNA and run this test."
Janet nodded. " Do you realize what's happened here? This is a massive mistake! I will have to call CFS."
"I know. I wish it never happened. If you'll excuse me, I have to go find Dr. Grey."
Penny stepped out of the conference room, eager to find Meredith.
"Dr. Blake?" Webber's voice boomed. She turned to the voice and found him beckoning her to him.
"Sir," she said.
"You got permission?" he asked.
"Yes sir. I was just on my way to find Dr. Grey-"
"You can't tell her."
"What?"
"She's in surgery. Operating on Jo Wilson. I know this is good news, but I can't have my best surgeon distracted. Understand?"
"But-"
"Look, she gave Anna her blood through a directed blood transfusion. Tell her you just need a sample to run tests, it's routine. And when she's done, I'll tell her about Anna."
Penny nodded. It made sense. Besides, if she told Meredith about the mistake that cost her four years with her daughter, she might get killed. She took a deep breath, "Oh boy."
xxx
"Dr. Grey,"
"What?" she snapped. She was tired and sore. Her pelvis ached from all the running she did earlier, and she was trying to just focus on one stitch at a time. Jo was giving them a run for their money, the bullet had torn through her colon and nicked her kidney. Fortunately, things were turning around.
After this, she determined... she was going to check on Anna and Zola. And then... Then, she would go home. There was a bottle of tequila with her name on it. Jose Cuevero would help her forget her mistake of opening her heart again.
It was her second day back to full duty. Meredith couldn't believe her fate, already she rode an ambulance with Alex to some county hospital to pick up a newborn preemie. Already, they'd worked on this tiny being with little fingers and toes, and a little nose.
It was... surreal.
"Mere," Alex tapped her hand. He didn't have to ask how she was.
She didn't have to answer. She shook her head as he bundled the baby up and put her in the incubater while Meredith hung up all the IV's and pulled the monitors behind them. She put her gaze forward, to the ambulance bay doors, instead of on the baby.
Yeah, she was back. She was a surgeon again. But if she couldn't keep the pain away, how long could she keep it up?
"Is that them? Wait!"
Alex stopped, and she nearly ran him over. No. Don't stop. She let out a breath, staring at Alex as he watched the conversation between the other doctor and the mother.
"She's my baby, I have to be with her. We're supposed to be together, let me go with her. Please. "
Alex stepped up from the incubator and walked past her. Meredith's feet wouldn't work. She couldn't turn around. She couldn't face that mother, because it wasn't that long ago, she was that mother.
Almost.
She kept her gaze on the monitors, on the ambulance bay doors, on the IV's. She bit her lip, mentally willing Alex to leave, just go so this would be over as soon as possible. But Meredith couldn't close her ears.
"Hey," Alex said. "I'm Dr. Karev, and that's Dr. Grey. And we're gonna take your daughter to the best baby surgeon there is."
"She doesn't even have a name yet."
"Well, you're gonna give her one when you come to Seattle and hold her in your arms. And until that time, we're gonna take care of her, you hear me? We have her."
A moment later, they were finally in the ambulance, the doors closed. She felt Alex's gaze on her though. "What?" she snapped.
"Are you even gonna look at her?" he asked. "She's your patient."
"I did look at her. She's fine."
"Maybe, but you're not."
"Drop it Alex," she said, voice like ambulance pulled out of the bay, she gripped the handle of the seat for support as it turned a hard corner and picked up speed.
"No, Mere, you survived. You freaking pulled yourself out of a coma, against all odds. I thought... we all thought you were a goner. And even then, no one ever thought you would go back to surgery. But now you're acting like... like... you don't want hope. You can't just give up like that."
"It's nice that you care, but it's not your business."
"Yes it is. You're my friend, and you're not a quitter, it's not who you are."
The monitors beeped and the IV bags swung as the ambulance began to climb up the hill. Meredith swallowed, finally allowing herself a glance at the tiny little being in the box. She wouldn't cry. Not now. "I'm not giving up Alex," she said. "I'm just- I can't... I'm not ready. It's all I can do to get up in the morning and shower and dress and eat. It's all I can do to prepare for my patient's surgery, to be there for them when they go into the OR. After that... I..." she shook her head. After that, she had nothing left. She was empty.
Alex sighed. "It's going to get better, Mere, it has to."
Meredith managed to give her friend a tight smile. "Thanks," she whispered, though she wasn't entirely sure he was right.
xxx
"Meredith, your resident is talking to you, are you listening?"
"Huh?" she looked up from her work on Jo's insides into Bailey's pointed gaze. Bailey tilted her head to the door of the OR where Dr. Blake stood, holding a mask over her face. "Sorry, what were you saying?" she asked.
"I need to get a blood sample from you, Dr. Grey."
"What? Why?" She jerked up.
"You gave blood to Anna... it's just routine."
Meredith couldn't help the thread of anxiety pulling her heart at the mention of Anna's name. "How is she? Is she okay?"
"She's doing great," Blake reassured. "She's sleeping off the anesthesia in post-op."
"That's good." Meredith sighed, finishing her stitch.
"I got this, Grey." Bailey nodded to her.
Meredith stepped back from the table and followed Blake into the scrub room, pulling off her gown.
"This will just take a minute." Blake said. Meredith nodded, extending her arm out. She bit her lip, trying to shut down painful thoughts before they completely formed. "Are you okay?" Blake asked, tying the tourniquette around her bicep.
"Fine. Just hurry up." Meredith said, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
Blake swabbed the inside of her arm and applied the syringe. But there was a tightness in her eyes, in her mouth. She was hiding something. "What is it? What's going on, Blake?"
"N-nothing..." she shook her head. "Just tired too," she said as she finished drawing the blood.
"You're lying." Meredith said.
The resident sighed. "It's just... what you did for Anna... I think you'll be such a great mom," she said with a smile. "You will. I know it." She clutched the tiny vial of blood, nodded and left, leaving Meredith very confused.
She wasn't going to be a mother. Not anymore.
xxx
"Mere, You okay? You're bleeding." Alex asked
Meredith struggled to her feet in the ambulance. What the hell just happened? Something hit them? She was level with the baby now. The tiny being shook in pain. She reached for the incubator and opened it up.
"Mere, what are you doing?"
"Get me a blanket," she said, "I'm taking her out." She couldn't ignore it any longer. Her instincts. All she saw was a helpless infant in pain.
"Mere, put her back in."
"No," she growled, "She just got thrown around a plastic box. She needs to be held. I'm not putting her back in." Carefully, she wrapped the blanket around the preemie and pulled her close to her chest. Her heart panged. Dammit. This baby better not die.
"Are you okay?" he asked again as he helped her.
"No, I'm not okay," she answered, shaking with anger and shock. How could this happen? This wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to take care of her. Alex said-
"Listen," he interrupted her thoughts, "we gotta get outta here before this thing blows."
"Well, how are we going to do that? She's connected to a million things!" Meredith looked around frantically, feeling helpless.
"You got the bag and the baby, I'll get the O2 tank and the IV. We'll disconnect the antibiotics. Is that okay?"
"It'll have to be," she sighed as they stepped out.
xxx
"Her blood pressure is going up," Bailey said calmly. "Heart rate stable... Our girl is going to make it."
Meredith sighed with relief. "And Alex isn't going to kill me. That's good. Now, if people would stop playing around with guns, maybe I could actually get some rest around here."
"Bailey..." Richard's voice called from the intercom. "Can you close? We need to talk to Meredith. It's important."
Meredith looked up to see Richard and Janet in the Gallery, looking down at her. What was she doing there? Suddenly her heart dropped. Zola. Someone probably saw her with Zola and reported it. Now there really was no chance. She nodded and stepped back from the table.
In the scrub room, she struggled to control her breathing as she washed her hands under the tap. Well, she knew it was coming. It was inevitable. Why would anything work in her favor?
xxx
"Hey, there you are," Alex said.
"Hey," she replied, seeing his reflection in the window of the nursery where all the newborns were.
"Some night, huh?"
"Yeah." She swallowed back a sob. "They didn't make it... the parents." Meredith stared at the babies, but they were nothing but flesh-colored blobs through her tears. "The daughter... Lily... she was so strong. I... Alex, I-"
"Shh," he turned her toward him, into his chest and hugged her.
"-I can't. How can I do this? How can-"
"-Mere," he rubbed her back. "The baby made it. She's okay."
xxx
"Mere! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Lexie burst into the scrub room. "Ugh, but first I had to run into Amelia... but anyway, I have to tell you something."
"I know," Meredith said, "Janet's here."
"Janet's here? Oh. But it's not that."
"Well, what is it, Lexie?" she growled impatiently.
"Um... I... how do I say this... I'm pregnant." Lexie beamed. "Mark and I... We're gonna have a baby."
Drying her hands with a sterile towel, Meredith stared blankly at her sister. She didn't know what to say, or think, or feel.
"Meredith? Um... can you say something? Please say something, and please don't be mad or sad... I know this isn't the best time, but Mark and I-"
"-It's amazing, Lex." Meredith said, with every ounce of happy she could muster. She gave Lexie a big hug. "And I am happy for you."
"Mark's over the moon." Lexie swooned.
Meredith smiled, imagining Mark's expression, his happiness. "I'm sure he is." She sighed. "You'll be great parents."
"You'll be a great aunt." Lexie took her hand and squeezed.
"Yeah, I'm... looking forward to it." Meredith nodded. "I um- I have to go."
"Right. Okay."
"Kay."
She pushed through the doors and ran.
xxx
Richard Webber waited outside the Gallery with Janet. "She should be done scrubbing out by now," he said. "I'll meet you in my office, you remember where it is?"
"Of course," Janet said.
He hurried back down into the surgical ward, bumping into Lexie. "Have you seen your sister?"
"Mere? Yeah... she went toward the stairs. Is she okay? What's going on?"
"If you see her, page me. I need to talk to her. It's very important."
xxx
Meredith watched Zola play with Carolyn through the window of the daycare. The little girl offered the older woman a pretend pot of tea, and Carolyn lifted a pretend cup for her to pour it in. She wanted to go in. She wanted a cup of pretend tea too. She wanted to take Zola home and put on Cinderella and bake cookies.
But... she knew it wouldn't be so. It couldn't possibly be so. Meredith turned her back to the window and slid down to the floor. It was over. Maybe it was better this way. Zola would barely remember her. Anna would be adopted soon to some nice Brady Bunch family who could give her all the time and poptarts she needed.
And she... what would she do? She would move on like she always did. Somehow, she'd pick up the broken pieces of her fragile heart and tape them back together again. She'd swallow her angst and be happy for April, and for Lexie... and-
Who was she kidding? This sucked. Meredith swallowed and tugged on the toes of her shoes. She really wanted a cup of pretend tea.
"Hey, what are you doing up here?" Mark's baritone voice pulled her from her reverie. "I thought you were in the OR."
"I was," she rasped. "I'm done now." She said, looking up at him in his confiscated wheelchair.
"Wilson okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, she's good. Sofia?"
"Sleeping like a baby... she's fine. Hey, wanna popsicle? Noah and I found the nurse's secret stash."
Meredith shook her head. "No, but thanks." She couldn't stop the tears though.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's nothing."
"Grey."
"Janet's here."
"Janet..." he rumbled.
"Zola's socialworker."
"Oh," he nodded. "Zola's here?"
"Yeah... she... I don't know, it's complicated. But Janet's gonna take her away. And I-" She buried her head behind her knees and cried.
"Shit Mere," Mark said, pulling the breaks on his chair. He tried to stand up without his crutches, but groaned in pain. "Grey. Meredith, get up."
But she shook her head. He manuevered himself beside her and tried to pull her up, but she squirmed away. "Meredith..."
"I'm never gonna see her again."
"Hey, snap out of it, just for a second. Look at me. Look." Wiping her eyes with her forearm, she looked up at him. "Remember when you told me about seeing dead people? You know... your whole afterlife thing when you drowned?"
"Yeah," she croaked. "You saw Denny?"
"Not Denny. I saw Derek."
"Derek? You saw him?"
"Mm-hmm," Mark nodded. "Can you sit on a chair? It feels weird talking to you like this." He reached down and helped pull her up. Meredith sank into the chair, exhausted. She had no more strength. But Mark still had her hand in his. "He told me he loves you. And... he's sorry for not paying attention. He was really looking forward to the dirty sex."
"What?"
Mark shrugged. "I'm just repeating what he said. But there's more... He said you're not finished. That you shouldn't give up on love, on being a mother. And you shouldn't worry. It's right in front of you. Everything is gonna go the way it goes."
"That's what he said?"
"Yeah." He squeezed her hand. "Does it help?"
She stood up and pressed her face to the glass of the window again. Zola was alone this time, building a tower with another little boy. Maybe Janet wasn't here to take Zola afterall...
She stepped into the room, through all the kids and their toys to Zola's spot. "Hi, Zola," she smiled, patting the little girl's head.
"Hiiii" she sang back.
"Whatcha doing?" Meredith sat down near the large tower of jumbo blocks. "Building a tower?"
"Help, Mama," Zola insisted, handing her a red block.
"Thank you, I'd love to help." Meredith placed the block on top.
"Dis one," Zola handed her another piece.
While she played with Zola, she looked around for Carolyn. Where did she go? Then she saw her in the doorway. Meredith's heart clenched. Richard and Janet were there too, watching her.
Meredith stood up and faced them. "Zola?" she called. She reached over and gave the girl a hug. "I have to go. You be good. And remember, I love you," she said.
"Love you too." Zola said before picking up another block.
Well dammit, that was it. Zola wasn't leaving this building in Janet's arms without a fight, Meredith determined to herself as she walked toward them.
"I didn't do anything wrong," Meredith blurted.
"Mere-" Richard started.
She ignored him, "Zola deserves a family. She deserves to be loved and wanted. I want her."
"Meredith, dear-" Carolyn said.
But Meredith ignored her too. "I can take care of her. I've proven that over and over again. Just because of one little-"
" Dr Grey!" Janet shouted.
Angry, Meredith clamped her mouth shut.
"Sorry," Janet continued softly, "Zola's case is still... up in the air," she said. "But we're not here about Zola. We're here to talk to you about Anna."
"Anna? Is she all right? Oh God, is she dead?"
"Dead? Meredith... no." Richard took her hand. "She's fine. She'll be sore from surgery, but she's just fine."
"Then what... I don't understand. Richard?"
"Dr. Webber? Janet? What is it?" Carolyn asked, also seemingly out of the loop.
"Let's all go down to my office, alright? It's getting crowded here."
xxx
Meredith's brain was firing at a thousand rpms a second. She couldn't sit still. She couldn't breathe... couldn't think. What was up with Anna? Why did it involve her? Who died? Someone had to have died. That must be it. But she wasn't even the second person on the list for Anna... and the whole thing with Zola... why would they give her Anna but not Zola? Were they giving her Anna? Wait, was this a publicity thing? She remembered people taking video's of her while she worked on Anna in the field.
That had to be it.
She was either getting a medal... or...getting sued. She couldn't tell. Still her heart wouldn't stop hammering, and she couldn't get Derek's voice out her head, about the dirty sex... and about the not finished thing.
Zola said she loved her.
She was so not finished.
"Meredith, I need you to sit down." Richard said.
She was sitting. Oh, maybe not. Carolyn pulled gently on her elbow and Meredith dropped into a chair, out of breath.
Janet and Richard shared a look, and then he nodded and cleared his throat. "Meredith, today when Anna was brought in, Dr. Blake noticed her birthmark."
"The one on her wrist." Meredith said. She remembered that. "It's not cancerous, is it?"
"No," he shook his head.
"Okay, good."
"Dr. Blake remembered another patient who had that same birthmark four years ago. A baby girl she helped deliver at Dillard."
"Okay," Meredith clasped her hands together. So this was about Dr. Blake then? But she wasn't on her service anymore.
"Meredith, this baby was born the same day and time you had your accident. Dr. Blake helped deliver her via C-section. And you were the patient with the C-section."
"I'm... not following." Meredith tried to think... she was the patient with the C-section. Blake delivered her baby... but her baby had died. Her baby was dead. Wait... what was the deal about the birthmark?
"Heavens!" Carolyn exclaimed.
"What?" Meredith stood, "Look, I already know that Blake held my baby. She told me. She told me what she weighed... how long she was... she said she had dark curly hair-"
"Dark curly hair?" Carolyn gasped, covering her mouth.
"I- I'm... confused."
Richard stood up and gripped Meredith's shoulders. "Meredith, Anna Forester is your daughter."
What? Impossible. Her daughter was dead. Grace was dead. Buried under a tree ten feet from Derek's grave. Bailey... Bailey told her... that her baby died. "No," she said weakly. "She died... she..." She shook her head. "No, there must be a mistake."
"That was the mistake, Meredith. Everyone thought your baby died. Even the doctors did. But there was a mix-up in the paperwork-"
"Paperwork?" Meredith croaked, shaking her head... "No, no... I saw the- death certificate... I she was buried- she- Carolyn!" she turned to Derek's mother. "You held her. My baby. You held her..."
"Oh, Meredith... the baby I held had hardly any hair...And" -her voice broke- "I don't remember a birthmark."
"So... so you're saying..." She tried to put it all together in her mind. Birthmark. Baby. Mistake. Alive. Anna. But it still didn't make sense.
You're not finished.
She'd lived this for so long, and with so much pain, that any deviation from the 'truth' she knew seemed catagorically impossible. Meredith stared at Richard, her hands squeezing and unsqueezing his forearms. "Anna..." she whispered, thinking.
My mummy died in a ax-uh-dent.
You have a cut. Did you have a baby?
He said... you're not finished.
Her cry... I'll never forget it. It was fierce, like she wanted to fight.
"Meredith..." Richard's rumble startled her.
She started to wobble in his arms. "H-how do you know?"
"We did a maternal DNA test. Remember when Blake drew your blood?"
"My blood?" Vaguely, she remembered now. It seemed ages ago.
"Meredith, you are Anna's mother. She's your daughter. There's no question she's yours." Richard reassured.
Meredith held her breath. Something was happening inside her. Something was growing... swelling. Something that felt good. No, not good. It felt amazing, it felt...indescribable. She'd felt this way only once before. When she was on her way to tell Derek...But it didn't feel this big, this solid... this real. "She's mine?" Meredith repeated.
Richard nodded, "Yes, yes she is."
"I have to see her." Meredith ran to the door. All she wanted... All she ever wanted, was waiting for her in Post-op. She skipped the elevator and took the stairs. Nothing hurt anymore.
xxx
She found Anna in a large private room, no doubt Richard's doing. Anna- her daughter- Meredith corrected, slept peacefully on her back, one arm stretched above her, the other rested on her little belly. There were still a couple of tubes and wires from IV's and monitors. But no catheters or drains were needed.
Meredith stopped at the foot of the bed and wiped the tears from her eyes. She was sure the anger would come. Anger at having missed four years of her daughter's life. Anger at four years of hopeless pain. It would come... she knew.
But right now, she was high as a kite. High on pure joy. Her daughter was alive! She'd been here this whole time. Somehow the universe returned what was lost to her. Meredith walked up to the head of the bed and stroked Anna's little brown curls. Just like Derek's fly away hair. Meredith planted a kiss on Anna's forehead, subtly marking her, and lay down beside her.
Anna's soft snores threatened to lull Meredith into a light doze. She didn't want to fall asleep. She didn't want to miss any moment with Anna, but her body was tired. Meredith propped her head up and watched her daughter's deep respirations, her little body twitches and mouth movements. She couldn't wait to tell her...
After awhile, Anna moaned and rolled over, waking up. "Merediff?" She whispered, her little fingers digging into the V of her scrubtop.
Meredith took her little hand in her own, kissing the knuckles. "Yeah, it's me, Anna Banana," she whispered back. Her daughter must have been tired, because she didn't fight the nickname. "Go back to sleep."
Anna closed her eyes, but after a couple minutes she squirmed and her eyes fluttered open again. "I dreamded... I dreamded you were my mommy," she said.
"Yeah?" Meredith beamed, feeling her lips stretch farther than they had in a long time. "Well, guess what?"
Little fingers squeezed hers. "What?"
"Your dream came true. I'm your mommy," Meredith said, pulling her daughter into herself as gently as she could and kissing her cheek. "I love you, Anna. I've always loved you."
"Luff you too mommy," Anna whispered before falling back asleep.
xxx
Outside the room Richard sighed, crossing his arms... standing guard, he supposed.
"Is there enough room on that bed for another child?" Carolyn asked, Zola in her arms.
"What?"
"Due to the... earthquake, Zola doesn't have a home to go back to for awhile. I talked Janet into granting Meredith temporary emergency custody... provided I stay with them here in Seattle."
"How in the world-?"
She shrugged. "I have my ways." Hefting Zola, she brought her to the side of the bed least occupied by a warm body. "Meredith?"
"Mm," she answered, eyes still closed. Anna was curled tightly around her, but Carolyn swore she saw bits of Derek in that child.
"Zola has come to see you." She said, "She's going to be staying with us for a few days."
"What?" Meredith nearly shot out of bed.
"Shh, child, get some rest. I'll tell you later. Just... take her."
"Zozo," Meredith reached for the smaller girl."Come here." She shifted and made room for Zola to crawl in under her arm and stretch out over the rest of her body.
Carolyn left the room for a moment and came back with a large white blanket which she stretched out over them all. "Goodnight girls. Sweet dreams"
A/N: See? I can write happy stuff. See? See? Please Review! Please... with cherry on top! More to come for all story lines!